List of English monarchs
]] The first person to assume the title Rex Anglorum (King of the English) was Offa of Mercia, though his power did not survive him. In the 9th century the kings of Wessex who conquered Kent and Sussex from Mercia in 825, became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England. The continuous list of English monarchs traditionally begins with Egbert of Wessex in 829. Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder used the title "King of the Anglo-Saxons". After Athelstan conquered Northumbria in 927, he adopted the title Rex Anglorum. Starting with Henry II in 1154, the title became Rex Angliae (King of England). The Principality of Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, and in 1301 Edward I invested his eldest son, the future Edward II, as Prince of Wales. Since that time, with the exception of Edward III, the eldest sons of all English monarchs have borne this title. After the death of Elizabeth I without issue, in 1603, the crowns of England and Scotland were joined in personal union under James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. By royal proclamation James titled himself "King of Great Britain", but no such kingdom was created until 1707, when England underwent legislative union with Scotland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain.In 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been under English rule since Henry II, became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland following the Act of Union, which lasted until the secession of Ireland in 1922 and the subsequent renaming of the state to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. House of Mercia According to some sources the first ruler to assume the title Rex Anglorum is said to have been Offa in 774, who had been King of Mercia since 757, but this claim is based on charters apparently forged in the 10th century. "The notion that Offa claimed to be 'king of the English', or 'king of the whole country of England', has been shown to depend, however, on charters forged in the tenth century. In his own day he was 'king of the Mercians', and proud enough to be so." (p. 341) "Charlemagne, moreover, saw England as if it were ruled by two kings only; Æthelred ruling Northumbria, and Offa everything to the south." (p. 101) However, on some of his coins Offa describes himself as Of Rx A, believed to stand for Offa Rex Anglorum.[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Fzhk_DvzqSkC The Earliest English Kings, D.P. Kirby] This probably had a different meaning at the time from what it acquired later, i.e. king of the Angles, and not necessarily the Saxons. Several earlier kings are called rex anglorum or some variant in surviving sources: Aldfrith of Northumbria by Aldhelm; Æthelred of Mercia in Felix's Vita sancti Guthlaci (Life of Saint Guthlac); and Æthelbald of Mercia by Saint Boniface. House of Wessex The continuous list traditionally starts with Egbert, King of Wessex from 802, the first King of Wessex to have overlordship over much of England.Burke's Peerage & Gentry. Retrieved 7 September 2007. He defeated the Mercians in 825 and became Bretwalda in 829, although he later lost control of Mercia. Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder used the title "king of the Anglo-Saxons." After Æthelstan conquered Northumbria in 927, he adopted the title rex Anglorum (King of the English). There is some evidence that Ælfweard of Wessex may have been king for four weeks in 924, between his father Edward the Elder and his brother Athelstan, although he was not crowned.Yorke, Barbara. Bishop Æthelwold. His Career and Influence. Woodbridge, 1988. p. 71''Textus Roffensis'' However this is not accepted by all historians. |- | Egbert (Ecgberht) 829–839 || || Circa.770 son of Ealhmund of Kent. || Redburga three children || 4 February 839 Aged about 69. |- |width=auto| Æthelwulf (Æþelwulf) 5 February 839–856 || || c.795 Aachen son of Egbert and Redburga|| (1) Osburga (-bef856) six children (2) Judith of Flanders 1 October 853 no children || 13 January 858 62 or 63 |- | Æthelbald (Æþelbald) 856–860 || || Circa.834 son of Æthelwulf and Osburga (-bef856). || Judith of Flanders no children || 20 December 860 Aged 26 or 27. |- | Æthelberht (Æþelberht) 21 December 860–865 || || Circa.835 son of Æthelwulf and Osburga (-bef856). ||Unmarried no children || 865 Aged about 30. |- | Æthelred (Æþelræd) 865–871 || || Circa.837 son of Æthelwulf and Osburga (-bef856). || Wulfthryth? 868 three children || 23 April 871 Aged about 34. |- | Alfred the Great (Ælfræd) 24 April 871–899Alfred (the Great) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 15 March 2007. || || Circa.849 Wantage son of Æthelwulf and Osburga (-bef856).Catholic Encyclopedia: Alfred the Great. Retrieved 14 March 2007. || Ealhswith Winchester 868 six childrenAlfred the Great. Retrieved 14 March 2007. || 26 October 899 Aged about 50.Catholic Encyclopedia: Alfred the Great. Retrieved 14 March 2007. |- | Edward the Elder (Eadweard) 27 October 899–924EADWEARD (Edward the Elder) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 15 March 2007. || || c.871–877 son of Alfred the Great and EalhswithThere are various references listing Edward the Elder's birth as sometime in the 870s, being the second child of a marriage of 868. There are no sources listing his birth as after 877. Anglo-Saxons.net : Edward the Elder. Retrieved 15 March 2007. || (1) Ecgwynn (c875-) three children (2) Ælfflæd (c880-) ten children (3) Eadgifu of Kent (c902-968) four childrenEnglish Monarchs – Kings and Queens of England – Edward the Elder. Retrieved 21 January 2007. || 17 July 924 Farndon, Cheshire aged about 50 |- | Athelstan (895-939) (Æþelstan) 3 August 924–939Aethelstan @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 15 March 2007. || || 895 son of Edward the Elder and Ecgwynn (c875-). || unmarried || 27 October 939 Aged about 44. |- | Edmund the Magnificent (Eadmund) 28 October 939–946EADMUND (Edmund) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || c.921 son of Edward the Elder and Eadgifu of Kent (c902-968) || (1) Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury three children (2) Æthelflæd of Damerham 944 no childrenEnglish Monarchs – Kings and Queens of England – Edmund the Elder. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || 26 May 946 Pucklechurch aged about 25 (murdered) |- | Eadred of Wessex (c924-955) (Eadred) 27 May 946–955EADRED (Edred) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || Circa.923 son of Edward the Elder and Eadgifu of Kent (c902-968). || Unmarried || 23 November 955 Frome Aged about 32.BritRoyals – King Edred. Retrieved 17 March 2007. |- | Eadwig (Eadwig) 24 November 955–959EADWIG (Edwy) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || Circa.940 son of Edmund the Magnificent and Ælfgifu of ShaftesburyCatholic Encyclopedia: Edwy. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || Ælfgifu. || 1 October 959 Aged about 19. |- | Edgar the Peaceful (Eadgar) 2 October 959–975EADGAR (Edgar the Peacemaker) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || Circa.943 Wessex son of Edmund the Magnificent and Elgiva || (1) Æthelflæd c.960 1 son (2) Ælfthryth c.964 2 sons || 8 July 975 Winchester Aged about 32.The Ætheling. Retrieved 17 March 2007. |- | Saint Edward the Martyr (Eadweard) 9 July 975–978EADWEARD (Edward the Martyr) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || Circa.962 son of Edgar the Peaceful and Æthelflæd. || Unmarried || 18 March 978 Corfe Castle Aged about 16 (Assassinated). |- | Æthelred the Ill-Advised (Æþelræd Unræd) 19 March 978–1013 (first reign)Æthelred the Unready was forced to go into exile in the summer of 1013, following Danish attacks, but was invited back following Sweyn Forkbeard's death. AETHELRED (the Unready) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || c.968 son of Edgar the Peaceable and ÆlfthrythSchoolnet Spartacus: Ethelred. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || (1) Ælflaed of Northumbria four children (2) Ælfgifu of York 991 six children (3) Emma of Normandy 1002 three childrenEnglish Monarchs – Kings and Queens of England – Ethelred II, the Redeless. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || 23 April 1016 London aged about 48 |- |} House of Denmark England came under the rule of Danish kings during and following the reign of Æthelred the Unready. | Sweyn Forkbeard (Svend Tveskæg) 25 December 1013–1014 || || c.960 Denmark son of Harald Bluetooth and Gyrid Olafsdottir || (1) Gunhild of Wenden c.990 seven children (2) Sigrid the Haughty c.1000 1 daughter || 3 February 1014 Gainsborough aged about 54 |} House of Wessex (restored, first time) Following the death of Sweyn Forkbeard, Æthelred the Unready returned from exile and was again proclaimed king on 3 February 1014.thePeerage.com – Person Page 102175. Retrieved 25 March 2010. His son succeeded him after being chosen king by the citizens of London and a part of the Witan, despite ongoing Danish efforts in wresting the crown from the West Saxons. | Æthelred the Ill-Advised (Æþelræd Unræd) 3 February 1014–1016 (second reign) || || c.968 son of Edgar the Peaceable and Ælfthryth || (1) Ælflaed of Northumbria four children (2) Aelgifu 991 six children (3) Emma of Normandy 1002 three children || 23 April 1016 London aged about 48 |- | Edmund Ironside (Eadmund) 24 April – 30 November 1016EADMUND (Edmund the Ironside) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || || c.993 son of Æthelred the Unready and Ælflæd of Northumbria || Edith of East Anglia two childrenEnglish Monarchs – Kings and Queens of England – Edmund Ironside. Retrieved 17 March 2007. || 30 November 1016 Glastonbury aged about 23 |} House of Denmark (restored) Following the decisive Battle of Ashingdon on 18 October 1016, King Edmund signed a treaty with Canute in which all of England except for Wessex would be controlled by Canute.Edmund II (king of England) @ Britannica.com. Retrieved 25 March 2010. Upon Edmund's death on 30 November, Canute ruled the whole kingdom as its sole king. |'Canute' (Knútr) 30 November 1016–1035CNUT (Canute) @ Archontology.org. Retrieved 21 March 2007.thePeerage.com – Person Page 10219. Retrieved 25 March 2010.|| ||c.995 son of Sweyn Forkbeard and Gunhilda of Poland ||(1) Aelgifu of Northampton two children (2) Emma of Normandy 1017 two children||12 November 1035 Shaftesbury aged about 40 |- |'Harold Harefoot' (Harald) 13 November 1035–1040Harold was only recognised as king north of the River Thames until 1037, after which he was recognised as king of all England. || ||c.1016/7 son of Canute and Ælfgifu of Northampton.||Aelgifu 1 son ||17 March 1040 Oxford Aged about 23 or 24. |- |'Harthacnut' (Hardeknud) 17 March 1040 – 8 June 1042 || ||1018 son of Canute and Emma of Normandy.||Unknown||8 June 1042 Lambeth Aged about 24. |} House of Wessex (restored, second time) After Harthacanute, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066. After the Battle of Hastings, a decisive point in British history, William I of Normandy became king of England. House of Normandy In 1066 the Duke of Normandy, William II, a vassal to the King of France and cousin once-removed of Edward the Confessor, invaded and conquered England in the Norman Conquest of England, and made permanent the recent removal of the capital from Winchester to London. Following the death of King Harold II in the decisive Battle of Hastings on 14 October, the Anglo-Saxon witan elected Edgar the Ætheling king in Harold's place, but Edgar was unable to resist the invaders and was never crowned. William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066, and is today known as William the Conqueror, William the Bastard or William I. It was only from the reign of William and his descendents that monarchs took regnal numbers in the French fashion, though the earlier custom of distinguishing monarchs by nicknames did not die out by consequence. ---- Disputed Claimants Empress Matilda was declared heir presumptive by her father, Henry I, and acknowledged as such by the barons. However, upon Henry I's death, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois. The Anarchy followed, with Matilda's being a de facto ruler for a few months in 1141, but she was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England. Prince Eustace (c. 1130 – 17 August 1153) was appointed co-king of England by his father, King Stephen, on 6 April 1152, in order to guarantee his succession to the throne (as was the custom in France, but not in England). However the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 22, during his father's lifetime, and so never became king in his own right.Ashley, Mike (1999). The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens, London: Robinson Publishing Ltd. p. 516. ISBN 1-84119-096-9 House of Plantagenet Stephen came to an agreement with Matilda in November 1153 with the signing of the Treaty of Wallingford, where Stephen recognised Henry, son of Matilda, as his heir to the throne in lieu of his own son. Rather than ruling among the Normans, the Plantagenets ruled from Aquitaine — lands which were acquired through Henry II's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, but did not regard England as their primary home until after most of their French possessions were lost by King John. This long-lived dynasty is usually divided into three houses: the Angevins, the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Plantagenets formulated England's royal coat of arms, which usually showed other kingdoms held or claimed by them or their successors, although without representation of Ireland for quite some time. ---- Disputed claimant Louis VIII of France briefly ruled about half of England from 1216 to 1217 at the conclusion of the First Barons' War against King John. On marching into London he was openly received by the rebel barons and citizens of London and proclaimed (though not crowned) king at St Paul's cathedral. Many nobles, including Alexander II of Scotland for his English possessions, gathered to give homage to him. However in signing the Treaty of Lambeth in 1217 Louis conceded that he had never been the legitimate king of England. ---- House of Lancaster This house descended from Edward III's third surviving son, John of Gaunt. House of York The House of York was descended from the fourth surviving son of Edward III, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York. The Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) saw the throne pass back and forth between the rival houses of Lancaster and York. House of Lancaster (restored) House of York (restored) House of Tudor The Tudors descended matrilineally from John Beaufort, one of the illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III), by Gaunt's long-term mistress Katherine Swynford. Those descended from English monarchs only through an illegitimate child would normally have no claim on the throne, but the situation was complicated when Gaunt and Swynford eventually married in 1396 (25 years after John Beaufort's birth). In view of the marriage, the church retroactively declared the Beauforts legitimate via a papal bull the same year (also enshrined in an Act of Parliament in 1397). A subsequent proclamation by John of Gaunt's legitimate son, King Henry IV, also recognized the Beauforts' legitimacy, but declared them ineligible ever to inherit the throne. Nevertheless, the Beauforts remained closely allied with Gaunt's other descendants, the Royal House of Lancaster. John Beaufort's granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort was married to Edmund Tudor. Tudor was the son of Welsh courtier Owain Tewdr (anglicised to "Owen Tudor") and Katherine of Valois, the widowed queen consort of the Lancastrian King Henry V. Edmund Tudor and his siblings were either illegitimate, or the product of a secret marriage, and owed their fortunes to the goodwill of their legitimate half-brother King Henry VI. When the House of Lancaster fell from power, the Tudors followed. Edmund Tudor's son became king as Henry VII after defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, ending the Wars of the Roses. With Henry VIII's break from the Roman Catholic Church, the monarch became the Supreme Head of the Church of England and of the Church of Ireland. Elizabeth I's title became the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. ---- Disputed claimant Edward VI named Lady Jane Grey as his heir presumptive. Four days after his death on 6 July 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen. Nine days after the proclamation, on 19 July, the Privy Council switched allegiance and proclaimed Edward VI's Catholic half-sister Mary. Jane was executed in 1554, aged 16. Few historians consider her to have been a legitimate monarch. ---- Under the terms of the marriage treaty between Philip I of Naples (Philip II of Spain from 15 January 1556) and Queen Mary I, Philip was to enjoy Mary's titles and honours for as long as their marriage should last. All official documents, including Acts of Parliament, were to be dated with both their names, and Parliament was to be called under the joint authority of the couple. An Act of Parliament gave him the title of king and stated that he "shall aid her Highness ... in the happy administration of her Grace’s realms and dominions"1 Mar. stat. 2 c. 2 (although elsewhere the Act stated that Mary was to be "sole queen"). Nonetheless, Philip was to co-reign with his wife.Louis Adrian Montrose, The subject of Elizabeth: authority, gender, and representation, University of Chicago Press, 2006 As the new King of England could not read English, it was ordered that a note of all matters of state should be made in Latin or Spanish.A. F. Pollard, The History of England – From the Accession of Edward VI. to the Death of Elizabeth (1547–1603), READ BOOKS, 2007Wim de Groot, The Seventh Window: The King's Window Donated by Philip II and Mary Tudor to Sint Janskerk in Gouda (1557), Uitgeverij Verloren, 2005 Coins were minted showing the heads of both Mary and Philip, and the coat of arms of England (right) was impaled with Philip's to denote their joint reign.Richard Marks, Ann Payne, British Museum, British Library; British heraldry from its origins to c. 1800; British Museum Publications Ltd., 1978American Numismatic Association, The Numismatist, American Numismatic Association, 1971 Acts which made it high treason to deny Philip's royal authority were passed in EnglandTreason Act 1554 and Ireland.Robert Dudley Edwards, Ireland in the age of the Tudors: the destruction of Hiberno-Norman civilisation, Taylor & Francis, 1977 In 1555, Pope Paul IV issued a papal bull recognising Philip and Mary as rightful King and Queen of Ireland. House of Stuart Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded to the English throne as James I in the Union of the Crowns. James was descended from the Tudors through his great-grandmother, Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII. In 1604 he adopted the title King of Great Britain. However the two parliaments remained separate. Commonwealth There was no reigning monarch between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Instead, from 1653 the following individuals held power as Lords Protector, during the period known as the Protectorate. |'Oliver Cromwell' Old Ironsides 16 December 1653–1658 || ||25 April 1599 Huntingdon son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward ||Elizabeth Bourchier St Giles 22 August 1620 nine children||3 September 1658 Whitehall aged 59 |- |'Richard Cromwell' Tumbledown Dick 3 September 1658 – 7 May 1659 || ||4 October 1626 Huntingdon son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier||Dorothy Maijor May 1649 nine children||12 July 1712 Cheshunt aged 85 |} House of Stuart (restored) Although the monarchy was restored in 1660, no stable settlement proved possible until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when Parliament finally asserted the right to choose whomsoever it pleased as monarch. Timeline of English Monarchs ImageSize = width:1300 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:825 till:1707 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:900 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:25 start:825 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(1,1,1) id:w value:rgb(0.75,0.25,0.75) id:d value:yellow id:n value:green id:a value:rgb(1,0.5,0.5) id:l value:red id:y value:rgb(0.75,0,0) id:t value:rgb(0.5,0.5,1) id:s value:orange id:cw value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8) id:eon value:Black Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Rulers bar:eon PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(0,-5) bar:eon color:eon from: 829 till: 1013 color: w text:Wessex from: 1013 till: 1042 color: d text:Denmark from: 1042 till: 1066 color: w text: from: 1066 till: 1154 color: n text:Normandy from: 1154 till: 1399 color: a text:Angevin from: 1399 till: 1461 color: l text:Lanc. from: 1461 till: 1470 color: y text: from: 1470 till: 1471 color: l text: from: 1471 till: 1485 color: y text:York from: 1485 till: 1603 color: t text:Tudor from: 1603 till: 1653 color: s text:Stuart from: 1653 till: 1660 color: s text: from: 1660 till: 1707 color: s text: width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers from:829 till: 839 color:w text:"Egbert" from:839 till: 856 color:w text:"Æthelwulf" from:856 till: 860 color:w text:"Æthelbald" from:860 till: 865 color:w text:"Æthelberht" from:865 till: 871 color:w text:"Æthelred" from:871 till: 899 color:w text:"Alfred the Great" from:899 till: 924 color:w text:"Edward the Elder" from:924 till: 924 color:w text:"Ælfweard" from:924 till: 939 color:w text:"Athelstan the Glorious" from:939 till: 946 color:w text:"Edmund the Magnificent" from:946 till: 955 color:w text:"Eadred" from:955 till: 959 color:w text:"Eadwig" from:959 till: 975 color:w text:"Edgar the Peaceable" from:975 till: 978 color:w text:"Saint Edward the Martyr" from:978 till: 1016 color:w text:"Æthelred the Unready" from:1016 till: 1016 color:w text:"Edmund Ironside" from:1013 till: 1014 color:d text:"Sweyn Forkbeard" from:1016 till: 1035 color:d text:"Cnut" from:1035 till: 1040 color:d text:"Harold Harefoot" from:1040 till: 1042 color:d text:"Harthacnut" from:1042 till: 1066 color:w text:"Saint Edward the Confessor" from:1066 till: 1066 color:w text:"Harold Godwinson" from:1066 till: 1066 color:w text:"Edgar the Ætheling" from:1066 till: 1087 color:n text:"William the Great" from:1087 till: 1100 color:n text:"William II" from:1100 till: 1135 color:n text:"Henry I" from:1135 till: 1154 color:n text:"Stephen" from:1141 till: 1141 color:n text:"Matilda" from:1154 till: 1189 color:a text:"Henry II" from:1170 till: 1189 color:a text:"Henry the Young King" from:1189 till: 1199 color:a text:"Richard I" from:1199 till: 1216 color:a text:"John" from:1216 till: 1272 color:a text:"Henry III" from:1272 till: 1307 color:a text:"Edward I" from:1307 till: 1327 color:a text:"Edward II" from:1327 till: 1377 color:a text:"Edward III" from:1377 till: 1399 color:a text:"Richard II" from:1399 till: 1413 color:l text:"Henry IV" from:1413 till: 1422 color:l text:"Henry V" from:1422 till: 1461 color:l text:"Henry VI" from:1461 till: 1470 color:y text:"Edward IV" from:1470 till: 1471 color:l text:"Henry VI" from:1471 till: 1483 color:y text:"Edward IV" from:1483 till: 1483 color:y text:"Edward V" from:1483 till: 1485 color:y text:"Richard III" from:1485 till: 1509 color:t text:"Henry VII" from:1509 till: 1547 color:t text:"Henry VIII" from:1547 till: 1553 color:t text:"Edward VI" from:1553 till: 1553 color:t text:"Jane" from:1553 till: 1558 color:t text:"Mary I" from:1554 till: 1558 color:t text:"Philip" from:1558 till: 1603 color:t text:"Elizabeth I" from:1603 till: 1625 color:s text:"James I" from:1625 till: 1653 color:s text:"Charles I" from:1653 till: 1658 color:cw text:"Oliver Cromwell" from:1658 till: 1660 color:cw text:"Richard Cromwell" from:1660 till: 1685 color:s text:"Charles II" from:1685 till: 1689 color:s text:"James II" from:1689 till: 1702 color:s text:"William III" from:1689 till: 1694 color:s text:"Mary II" from:1702 till: 1707 color:s text:"Anne" barset:skip Acts of Union The Acts of Union 1707 were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single Kingdom of Great Britain.Welcome parliament.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2008. The two countries had shared a monarch for about 100 years (since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I). Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head. There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early eighteenth century that the idea had the will of both political establishments behind them, albeit for rather different reasons. Titles The standard title for all monarchs from Alfred the Great until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum (King of the English). In addition, many of the pre-Norman kings assumed extra titles, as follows: *Alfred the Great: Rex Angulsaxonum (King of the Anglosaxons) and Rex Anglorum et Saxonum (King of the Angles and Saxons) *Athelstan: Rex Anglorum per omnipatrantis dexteram totius Bryttaniæ regni solio sublimatus *Edmund the Magnificent: Rex Britanniae and Rex Anglorum caeterarumque gentium gobernator et rector *Edred: Regis qui regimina regnorum Angulsaxna, Norþhymbra, Paganorum, Brettonumque *Edwy the Fair: Rex nutu Dei Angulsæxna et Northanhumbrorum imperator paganorum gubernator Breotonumque propugnator *Edgar the Peaceable: Totius Albionis finitimorumque regum basileus *Canute: Rex Anglorum totiusque Brittannice orbis gubernator et rector and Brytannie totius Anglorum monarchus In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Anglie ("King of England"). Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum ("Lady of the English"). From the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex Anglie, or Regina Anglie ("Queen of England") if female. In 1604 James I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted the title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain. The English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707 under Queen Anne (who was of course Queen of Great Britain rather than king).After the personal union of the three crowns, James was the first to style himself King of Great Britain, but the title was rejected by the English Parliament and had no basis in law. The Parliament of Scotland also opposed it. Croft, p67; Wilson, pp249–252. See also the early history of the Union Flag. See also *List of British monarchs *List of monarchs in the British Isles *List of Scottish monarchs *Line of succession to the British Throne (a list of people) *List of English consorts *English monarchs family tree *Succession to the British throne (historical overview and current rules) *Alternative successions of the English crown *List of monarchs of the British Isles by cause of death *Demise of the Crown *Mnemonic verse of monarchs in England External links *English Monarchs – A complete history of the Kings and Queens of England *Britannia: Monarchs of Britain *Archontology *Kings of England Notes Category:English monarchy Category:English monarchs English Category:Monarchs in the British Isles